planning for growth rethinking rural tourism

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Mair/Canadian Society of Extension 2001

Issues in Rural Extension

Rural communities are pressed to generate growth in the face of economic restructuring, the reduction of govern-

ment services and funding, and threats to their natural resources. Rural tourism is becoming increasingly attrac-

tive as a mechanism for meeting these challenges and many planners, practitioners and academics believe that

the future of rural communities rests with the economic, social and political opportunities created through

tourism. This presentation discusses the current shift towards tourism-led growth in Southwestern Ontario and

highlights some of the environmental, economic and social implications of this move. By challenging the notion

that tourism is nearly always a viable, quick fix for rural ills, the presentation offers an alternative vision of the

opportunities presented by rural tourism and gives direction to a new approach to community development more

generally.

Planning for Growth? Re-thinking the Rural

Tourism Opportunity1

Heather Mair

Dr. Donald ReidWanda George

Jim TaylorFaculty of Environmental Design and Rural Development

University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1

1Draft. Not for Citation.

Introduction

The conundrum of change in rural Canada has been the

topic of much discussion of late. Indeed, consideration of

rural change has taken the attention of many theorists, and

especially community development practitioners. The pur-

pose of this paper is to carve out one component of the

responses to rural change in this era of global restructuring- tourism. Economic change, particularly changing agricul-

tural practices, have led to rural unemployment and have

presented grave dilemmas about the future of rural commu-

nities in general. Rural decline has been a problem for all

modern governments. The use of tourism as a way to gener-

ate growth is a common response. In their work on tourism

and community development, a group of researchers from

Canada and Brazil noted that tourism is looked upon as a

possible salvation but one that is fraught with danger

often resulting in minimal long term benefits for the local

community and the development of a community that is at

the mercy of outsiders (2001: 1). This paper is concerned

with the problems inherent in tourism-led growth in ruralcommunities and focuses on research in Southwestern On-

tario.

The paper is divided into four parts. First, there is a brief

introduction to tourism in rural areas which sets the stage

for the rest of the analysis by considering the attractive-

ness of tourism development as a mechanism for rural growth

in many communities. The second section will outline re-

search undertaken in seven rural communities in South-

western Ontario in an effort to highlight the problems and

issues that are erupting as tourism development continues

to intensify. Having outlined the impacts of current tour-

ism-led approaches to rural development and growth, this

paper then suggests that there are opportunities for tourism

planning to be undertaken in a more engaging, participatoryand potentially less damaging way. This paper concludes

by introducing some of the next stages of research in order

to give direction to an alternative planning process for tour-

ism in rural communities.

I. Introducing Rural Tourism

Rural tourism might seem easily defined as travel to rural

areas but research has shown that it is much more complex

(Lane, 1993b). There are a variety of examples of the ways

tourism is undertaken in rural areas, including: nature-based

activities, festivals, heritage events, aboriginal-based attrac-

tions and events, agri-tourism, arts and crafts shows, com-munity theatre and others. As Lane points out, rural tourism

is a multi-faceted and complex activity which includes eve-

rything from farm-based tourism to educational travel, health

tourism, ethnic tourism and ecotourism (1993a). Part of the

reason for the complexity rests with the difficulty inherent in

defining rural areas themselves especially as their roles

change in an increasingly globalizing economy. While much

of the focus upon how to define what constitutes rural areas

has been concerned with its changing function in the global

economy, Panelli (2001) argues that the meanings and poli-


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tics of change in rural areas are as important as the economic

shifts that seem to generally characterize their function. Con-

siderations of tourism and travel to rural areas, then, are also

complicated.

The context within which rural tourism has developed is a

useful starting point for this discussion. Travel to rural areas

has grown for two inter-related reasons: on the demand

side, people are becoming increasingly interested in rural

areas and heritage tourism; on the supply side, govern-

ments have been taking initiatives to encourage its devel-

opment. While the question of travel to rural areas is an

interesting one (see Weiler and Hall 1992), for the purposes

of this paper, the focus is mostly upon the role of govern-

ment in its development. In Ontario, the election of the Harris

Conservative government and its Common Sense Revolu-

tion intensified a process of scaling back the role of govern-

ment in rural community growth and development. The idea

of planning rural communities was generally to be under-

taken from the perspective of amalgamated rural municipal

governments who were in charge of much of their own fund-ing and development. This shift was not unique to Ontario

and was, as Healey argues, deeply influenced by the neo-

liberal strategy of promoting entrepreneurial rather than regu-

latory styles of governance (1997; see also Harvey 1989).

As municipal governments in rural communities are pushed

to devise their own strategies for generating funds for pro-

viding services, tourism is given increasing credence. This

is the case in many places in the world. In a 1994 report by

the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop-

ment, it was suggested that tourism had a vital role to play in

the future of rural development:

For many years a number of rural areas havebeen beset by population loss and declining

services. These problems are now exacerbated

by changes that have brought job losses and

falling income to the farm sector. In contrast

to this downturn, tourism has blossomed into

a prosperous, fast-growing activity, and has

indeed turned out to be a significant factor for

economic growth in the countries in which it

has developed. It was therefore important to

determine whether tourisms growth potential

could be harnessed as a strategy for rural de-

velopment, in particular by drawing upon re-

surgent interest in the countryside, its tradi-tional way of life, and landscapes and the ar-

chitectural heritage....[Tourism] has proved to

be a powerful engine for economic growth - -

transferring capital, income and employment

from industrial, urban and developed areas to

non-industrial regions. (1994: 5-7)

The relationship between tourism and economic develop-

ment is growing both in importance as a development strat-

egy and a focus for research (see Aronsson 2000; Blank

1989; Bouquet and Winter 1987; Britton 1991; Butler et al.

1998; Hall and Jenkins, 1998; Ilbery 1998; Keane 1992; Luloff

et al. 1993; Mitchell 1998 & 2000; Ramaswany and Kluentzel

1998). The next section narrows the discussion to the expe-

riences of four rural communities in Southwestern Ontario2 .

II. Tourism Development and Problems in Rural

Communities3

Increasing attention is being given to the impact of tourism

development on the members of rural communities (Bourke

and Luloff 1995; Perdue, Long and Allen 1987 & 1990; Pizam

1978; Smith and Krannich 1998). Research undertaken in

four rural communities in 1999 supports these findings. In-

terviews were completed with over 100 respondents from

four rural communities. These four communities were se-

lected based upon their position along an adapted version

of Butlers destination life-cycle model (1980). Care was taken

to identify and interview members of the business commu-

nity (tourism and non-tourism businesses), concerned resi-

dents, service club representatives and other communityvolunteers, and local politicians. Overall, when asked about

the benefits that tourism brought to their community, re-

spondents were most inclined to discuss economic factors.

Employment, economic growth, spin-offs such as support

services, and business development were commonly given

as evidence that tourism helps boost the rural economy.

When pressed to consider some non-economic benefits, re-

spondents usually identified examples of community pride,

cultural interaction and education, incentives to keep the

community neat and tidy, and the ability to maintain support

for diverse businesses and services.

The overarching purpose of this research was to haverespondents identify issues and concerns related to tourism

development in their community. Major concerns and issues

resulting from the development of tourism included traffic

congestion, noise, the lack of access to amenities, the lack of

privacy, a feeling of a loss of balance, threats to rural

tranquility, and a fear of losing control of the tourism industry.

Conflicts around tourism-related activities also appear to

occur more often in communities where tourism growth has

intensified. These conflicts and anger appear to have been

most often manifested in petitions and town hall meetings,

but they have also been played out in public, face-to-face

confrontations and in open hostility, anti-tourist signage,

and other forms of vandalism.

Analysis of the four areas suggests that tourism communities

place immediate attention on the substantive issues which

2In the interest of space, this paper will not discuss the methodologi-

cal underpinnings of this research. For details, see Reid, D.G., J.

Taylor and H. Mair. (2000a) Rural tourism development: research

report. School of Rural Planning and Development, University of

Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.

3A similar version of this section was presented at the 6 th Annual

World Leisure and Recreation Congress, Bilbao, Spain, July, 2000.


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are causing tensions and community conflict. Most of the

part icipants in this study suggested that if they could

address the substantive issues including traffic, parking,

consistent business hours and the nature of the tourism

product (i.e., mass tourism or high-end), then they would

have dealt sufficiently with the major irritants. Respondents

in each of the study communities expressed that the creation

of a tourism plan would be a major step toward solving their

problems. Through our analysis of the decision-making

processes in each of the communities, however, it became

clear that there was no identifiable and widely trusted process

for making the decisions necessary to begin to create this

tourism plan.

Tourism development in each of the study communities has

moved forward incrementally, and in a direction that has

generally been unplanned and unsupported by residents in

any meaningful way. Tourism development that occurs at

the whim of local businesses has the potential to sow the

seeds of its own destruction (Mitchell, 1998). Tensions will

develop within the community as some members benefitfrom tourism and others are left out; poorly planned traffic

routes will exacerbate congestion and frustration; there will

be a drop in the provision of local services (or an increase in

their cost); and the invasiveness that unchecked tourism

growth can bring to a small community will be increasingly

resented. These community tensions can begin to affect

the health (and appeal) of the community.

Regardless of whether respondents saw tourism development

as good for the community, a necessary evil, or an approach

to development that must be avoided, nearly all respondents

suggested that planning for tourism development was an

essential and often neglected activity. Responses indicatedthat undertaking a planning or visioning exercise was

be li eved to be ne ce ss ary fo r addr essi ng tou ri sm

development problems and may bridge the divides between

those who were in support of unfettered tourism

development, those who accepted limited development and

those who wanted none. Even business owners and those

who stood to gain most directly from intense tourism

development suggested that there should be controls or

guidelines put in place both to ensure consistency and quality

in the development of tourism, but also to prevent over-

development which could taint the communitys appeal.

Indeed, when asked about potential mechanisms for

addressing concerns, conflicts and considerations of futuredirections, respondents overwhelmingly suggested the need

to create a plan. Not working from a community-based

approach, however, can lead to dissatisfied residents whose

attitudes will affect the image and tone of community life

and thus risk reducing the appeal of the area. It is clear that

what is needed in the first instance is a process which will

allow the various groups in the community to confront

collectively the irritants which arise as a result of tourism

development. The next section introduces on-going research

in three other rural communities which is attempting to

develop such a process.

III. Alternative Approaches to Rural Tourism Planning

Given the issues uncovered in the first stage of the research,

many questions arise both for planners and researchers of

rural tourism. If the community is an integral part of the

tourism product, how might planners create a more integra-

tive and holistic approach to tourism planning? Some re-

searchers might consider this to be the foundation for sus-

tainable tourism (Hunter, 1997; see also Bramwell and

Sharman 1999). Can there be sustainable rural tourism? How

can it be planned for, monitored and controlled? An espe-

cially useful approach to answering these questions is influ-

enced by the work of Hunter (1997). He argues that sustain-

able tourism is most effectively used as an adaptive para-

digm insofar as it can take different forms in different places,

depending on how one arrives at a balance between the

perceived needs of the community in question, and the de-

mands of the tourists visiting them. Hunter sees sustainable

tourism as a continuum (1997: 859-863) wherein a commu-nity could have a tourism imperative in that they would

decide which resources would need to be sacrificed in order

to generate income. The other end of the continuum,

neotenuous tourism or an ecology first perspective, would

actively discourage tourism in an effort to protect those natu-

ral areas that the community wants to protect. This

neotenuous position could be extended beyond ecology

concerns to include the preservation of rural community life

and culture.

It is important to note that each step along this continuum

involves a degree of control and preservation, but the mix is

decided by the community in question and may change overtime. A community that decides to attract an initially large

number of tourists to generate income, for instance, may

move along the continuum provided that controls (as

determined by the community) are in place to safeguard total

destruction until there could be an increased level of

protection or control. Changes in the nature of tourism indicate

that tourists may well be accepting of the need for these

protective measures, and may be willing to take an active

role in encouraging these measures (Hunter, 1997; Aramberri,

2001).

The question remains, of course, of how this might take place.

On-going research with members of three different rural com-munities in Southwestern Ontario suggests that an essential

starting point is the creation of a community visioning ses-

sion which helps to build the trust between community mem-

bers as all take an equal role in dreaming about the future of

their community. Importantly, the focus of this session is

deliberately noton tourism per se but on the community

itself. Participants follow the model of a search conference,

as set out by Emery and Purser (1996) and spend time draw-

ing images of their community, discussing their drawings

and then making collective decisions about what in their


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community they want to protect, build upon and prevent

from continuing. While this process requires facilitation,

care is taken to ensure that those participating are in control

of all decisions through consensus. The next stages of the

community visioning exercise involves slotting tourism de-

velopment into the created vision and devising strategies

about how to reach this goal. While the research is still at

early stages, there are many exciting instances of collabora-

tion, enhanced understanding and mutual respect that form

over the course of this particular exercise. Participants in

two of these exercises have determined that it should be

undertaken again with as many people from the community

as possible. The challenge remains in terms of engendering

the initiative and energy to design a flexible, community-

based tourism planning process but these first efforts reveal

a buy-in which helps to ensure the momentum is indigenous

and self-directed.

Conclusion

In their work on collaborative recreation and park servicesplanning, Hope and Dempsey (2000) have utilised commu-

nity decision conferences and conclude that this type of

planning:

should represent what people want, project im-

aginatively what might be, and recognize re-

alistically what is possible. It must also ac-

tively involve the stakeholders and seek to

build consensus around shared community

values in order to achieve genuine commit-

ment to implementation. (p. 63-4)

As researchers and planners investigate the role of tourismin rural development, attention must be paid not just to the

players in the community and the importance of inclusivity,

but also on the context. As was mentioned earlier, tourism is

being introduced in small communities around the world as

the quick fix for development ills. Tourism is being asked to

generate a plethora of benefits for communities and thus

must be taken seriously. For example, as part of its rural jobs

strategy and to encourage development in rural areas, the

provincial government in Ontario earmarked $30 million dol-

lars for rural projects - over $7 million of which went to rural

tourism projects. That number indicates that nearly one-

third of rural development funding is steering rural tourism

growth. The appeal of tourism for rural development fitsalongside the ideals of entrepreneurial growth insofar as it

means the government can take a smaller role. As is shown

above, however, entrepreneurially driven tourism leads to

problems in rural communities and so must be steered much

more carefully than first considered. A long-term approach

to healthy tourism development demands the time, resources

and skills to ensure that it is built from consensus and sup-

port and with as many members and perspectives in the

community as possible. The research described here is a

step in that direction.

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